Parker named player of the year

As hard as he tries to avoid the spotlight, Jabari Parker can’t escape it.

Photo Courtesy of ESPN.com / Jabari Parker has been named Gatorade Boys' Basketball Player of the Year.

Parker, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was recently named the Gatorade National Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year. An article by Chad Konecky on ESPN.com carried the announcement.

“This award means more to me than any other,” Parker told Konecky. “I can think of a lot of guys who probably deserve this more, but I’m lucky and I’m honored.”

Parker was surprised with the news in his Spanish class by former NBA all-star Alonzo Mourning. After Mourning asked if Parker could say he was excited in Spanish, the 17-year-old joked about getting back to class.

As a junior, Parker led his Simeon High Wolverines to a 33-1 record and a 3-peat as state champions this season. He averaged 20.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 3.4 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. He is only the fourth non-senior to receive the award, joining the company of LeBron James, Greg Oden and Brandon Knight. Parker also maintains a 3.63 GPA.

“Jabari is a once in a lifetime player and person,” Paul Biancardi, ESPN’s director of basketball recruiting. “As a person he is incredible, humble and hard-working, regardless of his accolades.”

Unfortunately for college basketball fans, especially BYU fans who would like to see the Mormon hoopster suit up for the Cougars, the Chicago native remains undecided about where he will play college basketball.

About the Author

Trent Toone

Trent Toone is a journalist for the Deseret News, where he writes for the Mormon Times and a variety of feature sections. He is also the author of "No Excuses, No Regrets: The Eric Weddle Story," set to come out in April 2013.

I’m not Trent but I figured you’d like an answer wherever it comes from. In this case, it’s the last sentence of the article, “…the >>Chicago<< native remains undecided about where he will play college basketball."

A quick search for ‘Simeon High Wolverines’ leads to the following Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeon_Career_Academy . Notice that is the same high school that Derrick Rose attended. Also, if you read the article, it clearly states that Parker is a junior (5th paragraph: “As a junior, Parker led his Simeon High Wolverines…”).

Jabari is from Chicago and is a Junior. He has led his Simeon High School Wolverines to 3 straight Illinois State Titles in the largest school class.
Like his mother he is active LDS (he has a brother just coming off a mission), although his father, a former NBA player, is not although he often attends meetings with the rest of the family. As a BYU grad, I hope he goes to Provo. As a resident of Urbana/Champaign (the home of the University of Illinois) I hope he comes here, but I suspect he’ll go to Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, or Kansas.

“His brother is coming back from his mission” Do not under estimate the power of a mission. Both brother play at BYU. Jabari plays one year and goes on a mission. Returns and play another year then turns Pro. He get’s it all, family, mission, college and NBA STAR. He is a special young man. Why not follow the a differnt path